Whistle-Blowing Saved The Turtles

He stuck Whistleblower of the Year out his neck and was fired Larry Pynn Vancouver Sun December 12, 2007

Gord McAdams, a career civil servant fired for turning whistleblower, said Tuesday he learned something along the way from rare painted turtles he helped to save near Nelson. "What have I learned from the turtles?" McAdams said after receiving a 2007 whistleblower award IAN LINDSAY, VANCOUVER SUN in Vancouver. "To move forward, Gord McAdams was fired as a B.C. resource officer after 34 you have to stick your neck out, but years with the government. it's nice to have a hard shell." McAdams was fired as a resource officer in the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management in April 2005 after 34 years with the B.C. govern- Water, Land, and Air Protection, to ment, much of that in park planning. move a road in Grohman Narrows Provincial "I had my retirement party that Park. afternoon," he said in an interview. The new road would have "They changed the locks, and told allowed developer Dan Bayoff to people not to associate with me. access his property for the purpose But most everybody came to my of developing a truck service retirement party, anyways." maintenance yard,but it was also He caught the government's ire regarded as a threat to the painted for providing confidential docu- turtles. ments to the West Kootenay McAdams's documents were Community Ecosociety, which was instrumental in B.C. Supreme Court trying to thwart plans by Bill Justice Janet Sinclair-Prowse ruling Barisoff, then Liberal minister of in May 2005 that the minister had made an "unauthorized exercise of his statutory power." McAdams said his pension was not affected by the firing, but that other benefits such as sick leave and holidays totalling about five months salary were affected. With the help of the B.C. Government Employees' Union, he subsequently reached a settlement with the B.C. government. Details are confidential. Barisoff, who became Speaker of the House in September 2005, said in response Tuesday he has no regrets, arguing his decision to move the road was done in collaboration with transportation ministry officials to provide the the Freedom of Information and acting in the public interest where safest vehicle access. He added the Privacy Association and the the government isn't." plan also involved enhancement of Campaign for Open Government, In the absence of such legislation, the park to benefit the turtles. which are urging the province to McAdams urged other civil "Purely from a parks [legislative] pass whistleblower legislation. servants who might consider perspective, we probably over- Such disparate groups as the following his lead to be "very stepped our bounds," he said. Western Canada Wilderness careful" but that "if you look inside "But for the travelling public and Committee and the Canadian your soul, I think you'll know." the enhancement of the turtles, we Taxpayers Federation, both present NDP MLA Shane Simpson has made the right decision." at the news conference, are in introduced a private member's bill, Barisoff said he couldn't favour of such legislation. the Whistleblowers Protection Act. comment on the need for "Corruption thrives in an He admits it won't be passed by whistleblower legislation, given his environment of secrecy," said government, but hopes it at least position as Speaker. federation director Maureen Bader. increases public pressure for such McAdams, who is a Nelson "Whistleblowers are the last line of legislation. councillor, received the award from defence for the taxpayer and those © The Vancouver Sun 2007

GOVERNMENT Fired ex-public servant wins whistle-blower award MARK HUME Mr. McAdams lost $50,000 in salary McAdams said as he accepted the The Globe and Mail and pension benefits when he was award. December 12, 2007 fired, but subsequently came to a He thanked the Freedom of confidential settlement after filing a Information and Privacy Association VANCOUVER -- Gordon McAdams union grievance. The final details of for being "a candle in the darkness" didn't hesitate when he realized the the penalty he paid aren't available. that encourages people to act in the only way to protect a small population Yesterday, he had reason to smile public interest by bringing hidden of endangered painted turtles was to about his decision, however, when he information into the open. violate the oath of secrecy he'd taken was given the 2007 Whistleblower He said his experience had been as a public servant. Award by the Freedom of Information stressful and he regretted ending his But he never expected the retribution and Privacy Association. career on a sour note. But Mr. for the action to be so swift. "To move forward you have to stick McAdams said he was proud of his The government of British Columbia your neck out, but it's really nice to actions. fired him just three days after he filed have a hard shell," Mr. McAdams said Asked what advice he'd give to with the Supreme Court of B.C. an as he accepted the award, which is anyone faced with deciding whether to affidavit containing confidential given annually, if merited, to a violate conditions of employment in government documents about a road Canadian who best represents the order to reveal the truth, he said: that was going to be built right through ideals of an open society. "Look inside yourself. I think you'll a turtle nesting site. Past award winners have included know." His dismissal came on his last day at Dr. Nancy Olivieri, who went public The confidential government work before retiring in 2005. It about a blood-disorder drug that was documents released by Mr. McAdams, brought a bitter end to a distinguished having harmful effects, and Corporal who at the time was an environmental 34-year-career during which, among Robert Read, an RCMP investigator manager in Nelson, B.C., helped other things, he'd written the who revealed attempts to cover up convince the Supreme Court to stop government's plans for saving corruption at Canada's diplomatic government plans to build a road endangered species in the West mission in Hong Kong. through Grohman Narrows Provincial Kootenays. "Obviously I'm very honoured and Park. somewhat overwhelmed by this," Mr. The documents showed that "He was just going to do the right the public, even at risk to his own government biologists had studied the thing and he made the decision [to career. road project and had deter-mined it release them] on the spot," she said. He said people who blow the whistle would bury turtles and their eggs alive. Ms. Cowen said the documents often face blacklisting in their The minister at the time, Bill proved the minister had committed professions, are harassed at work, or Barisoff, had approved a road that what the courts termed "an unauth- may even get death threats. But people benefited a local businessman who orized exercise of his statutory power." continue to step forward. wanted a cheaper access route to his The road was never built and the "There's something in them that just property. turtle pond - located just outside can't turn a blind eye [to Jo-Anna Cowen, who at the time Nelson in south-central B.C. - remains wrongdoing]," he said. was a lawyer for the West Kootenay a productive breeding area. Shane Simpson, an NDP MLA from Community EcoSociety, said that Darrell Evans, executive director of B.C. who has recently introduced a when Mr. McAdams brought the the Freedom of Information and private member's bill to protect documents to her attention, she told Privacy Association, said Mr. whistle-blowers, said it's clear laws are him they were worthless unless he was McAdams's case was "a classic model needed to make sure people like Mr. prepared to file them in court. of whistle-blowing," in which an McAdams don't get punished. He agreed, knowing there could be individual acted in the best interest of http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC. repercussions at work. 20071212.BCWHISTLE12/TPStory/? query=whistleblower Whistle-blowing saved the turtles For B.C. public servant, going public was worth the high price

Les Leyne McAdams' integrity, oddly repair shop on the other side of Times Colonist enough, came to the fore during the road. December 11, 2007 an argument over turtles. The bigger controversy was Western painted turtles. About over the impact a new road Gord McAdams was reflecting 21 of them, to be exact, that would have on the turtles. on public integrity during the live in a little bog within a McAdams was an ecologist drive from Nelson to Vancouver roadside park 10 hectares in with what was then known as when I tracked him down. He size just outside of Nelson. the Ministry of Water, Land and was making the trip to get a On the other side of the Air Protection. whistleblower award from the highway, someone wanted to It was when the local MLA Freedom of Information and build a truck repair shop. Privacy Association. started advising people that the The Highways Ministry likes to new road would be good for the The radio news during the see access roads on either side turtles that McAdams realized drive focused on Conrad Black's of a highway align whenever he had a big decision to make. sentencing for fraud and possible, for obvious safety It was a given within the obstruction of justice and on the reasons. mayor of Ottawa being charged ministry that the new road Aligning the truck pull-out with bribery. would be bad for turtles. The with the park entrance would alteration would have traversed Last week, of course, the have been a $200,000 job the nesting habitat. Some news was all about Mulroney because of the terrain. underground nests and eggs and Karlheinz Schreiber and the Moving the park entrance a would likely be destroyed during Barry Bonds perjury case and few metres was a lot easier. It construction. any number of other scandals. was an estimated $100,000 job. If the road was built, the "Where's the integrity gone?" But people are keenly biologists thought some turtles McAdams demanded of me. sensitive to parks in B.C. and would try to cross it since it "That's why I feel good about some controversy arose over would be so close to the pond. this award. It shows there's still why the government was some integrity." A lot of mitigation efforts were moving an access road to proposed to minimize the benefit the proponent of the damage. But the fundamental effect of the road was a confidential documents clearly to acknowledge that taking negative, as far as the turtles illustrating that the road was confidential government and other amphibians were bad for the amphibians. documents without permission concerned. He made that move on the for the purpose of pursuing a So McAdams knew perfectly Monday of his last week on the protect-against-government well the new road would be bad job, as he was scheduled to action is not justified. for turtles, while an elected retire after 34 years service. The exact settlement is politician was saying just the It stung the powers that be, to confidential, but in return, opposite. the point where they summoned presumably, any adverse All the issues surrounding the him four hours before his final impacts on his pension were realignment proposal were laid departure and fired him right cancelled. before then-minister Bill out of the building. Ironically, the government Barisoff. He had to make the It was the full ignominious eventually filed with the court call: Move the road for public treatment; he was given three the same documents that safety reasons to allow minutes to clear out and was McAdams had entered on his construction of a truck shop escorted to the door by grim- own. across the highway, or leave the faced supervisors. He later jumped into politics in road alone to protect the But he got the last laugh. his own right and is now a turtles. The B.C. Supreme Court later member of Nelson city council. Barisoff decided to move the decided that Barisoff had Today he is the proud recipient road. violated the Parks Act and set of the whistleblower of the year An environmental group went aside his decision to move the award. to court to fight that decision road. There will be a few speeches and it was during that argument That was almost three years at the little ceremony by his that McAdams faced his ago and the project has been on lawyer, some environmentalists moment of truth. hold ever since. The turtles and and an NDP politician. The essential point during the salamanders have been left But McAdams can sum up the court process was whether a alone. relevance of it all as well as decision that harms park wildlife McAdams was fired-retired anyone. contravenes the B.C. Park Act. and eventually reached a saw- "Right and wrong shouldn't be McAdams filed an affidavit off in the grievance he launched decided by who finds out." with the court accompanied by against the government. He had © Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

Whistleblower award winner: 'Right is right, wrong is wrong'

Kent Spencer McAdams, 57, now a city — led to his dismissal from his The Province councillor in Nelson. $65,000-a-year job two years December 11, 2007 He is in Vancouver today to ago. receive the 2007 whistleblower McAdams said his dad, Allan, Whistleblower of the Year award from the Information taught him the difference Gord McAdams says he has no and Privacy Association and between right and wrong. regrets about taking the the Campaign for Open The family had been given government papers that led to Government. some free theatre tickets in a his dismissal. Copying confidential papers town where his dad was mayor. "When you hear so much that showed the provincial His dad returned the tickets. about discredited figures like government intended to break "Right is right and wrong is Barry Bonds and Conrad Black, environmental rules — by wrong," said McAdams. it somehow seems excusable. putting a road through a park Integrity is huge," said where endangered turtles lived © The Vancouver Province 2007